June 5, 2015
Delaware News
Dover Post
Delaware Teaching Center aiding educators
As teachers in local school districts get ready to break for the summer, many will take advantage of classes offered by the Delaware Teaching Center. An estimated 800 teachers rely on the center’s resources during the school year for their lesson plans and to obtain necessary workshop hours for recertification. Educators are worried that the General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee will eliminate funding for the center.
Caesar Rodney’s Chinese immersion celebrates third year
“The whole premise behind it is preparing them for the global economy,” said James Cohee, coordinator for the immersion program at Allen Frear. The immersion program was the result of Gov. Jack Markell’s World Language Expansion Initiative in 2012.
How to encourage girls’ interest in math, science
“We know that 78 percent of school-aged girls have an interest in STEM, yet women only make up 25 percent of the STEM workforce, and that somewhere along the lines we are losing these STEM girls,” said Sandy Marshall, founder of Project Scientist, which aims to reach young girls interested in STEM fields and keep them on track to a STEM career.
National News
Newsday
Great Neck teacher wins right to challenge rating tied to student test scores
A veteran Great Neck elementary teacher, Sheri Lederman, has won the first round of her legal challenge to the state’s evaluation system, which she contends is unfair to her and colleagues because of statistical flaws.
Education Week
New standards ease political pushback in South Carolina
South Carolina was one of three states last year—along with Indiana and Oklahoma—to require a replacement for the Common Core State Standards, amid a volatile political climate and challenges states have faced in implementing the standards. The transition is about to be complete for South Carolina: Its new math and English/language arts standards, developed by a team of in-state educators and adopted by the state school board in March, go into effect in the 2015-16 school year
Online coursetaking evolving into viable option for special ed.
As new technologies allow digital lessons to be tailored to various learning styles, a growing number of programs are evolving to enable students with disabilities to take online courses created with their needs in mind.
The Education Trust
Calling the nation’s civil rights leaders ignorant on testing: Really?
Opinion by Kati Haycock
By baiting readers with his portrayal of civil rights leaders “duped” into supporting practices that are bad for vulnerable children, Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, avoided ever having to wrestle with efforts by the unions to dupe parents into sabotaging the best tests we have ever had just because those tests also are used in the evaluation of some teachers.
Indianapolis Star
Glenda Ritz calls education ‘catalyst for improvement’ in run for governor
It’s official: State school superintendent Glenda Ritz is running for governor. Ritz said education will be her main platform, as she announced her candidacy Thursday at Ben Davis High School on the Indianapolis Westside, promising to run against her longtime antagonist, Republican Gov. Mike Pence.